I was compelled to leave a comment while I was watching the video. I am sharing it here in the off chance it is helpful to someone. TW: Do not read the comments section on the video.
It is my belief, as a transsexual female, that I am a natural ally to women's liberation. When I transitioned, I knew I was "turning in my male privilege card." What I did not foresee was the unwelcoming reception from women who, unlike myself, were born into a female body. How I ever so much wish that I had been because I will tell you this...I would not wish gender dysphoria on my worst enemy.
What I did not foresee was that my transition from male to female would be considered a male intrusion on female spaces. That even after everything I have had to go through to be the person I rightly know that I am, I would still be considered part and parcel of the patriarchy, despite rejecting all that the patriarchy stands for.
What I did not foresee was a woman such as the person in the video (25:08) saying that "transgender does not exist." If such a statement were not an attempt at erasure of who I know myself to be, I don't know what is. This eraser, this contention that there is no such thing as transgender people, flies in the face of what we already know about the fluidity of gender from a scientific standpoint. Needless to say, there have been very few scientific studies on gender dysphoria and/or gender phycology, and this is why this statement is so very harmful. I say it is harmful because to advocate for politicians to declare the same, that transgender people do not exist, means funding for gender studies are at risk. Sure, more needs to be examined when it comes to gender and I cannot for the life of me understand why these women would not want to get to the bottom of this one way or another. I proffer the proposition that they should support the public funding of this research so that we can arrive at the real truth of the matter. Who knows, the research may lay bear a reality that they are right, although of course I do not think so.
It is true, I was not born in a female body. That is an inescapable reality much to my deepest chagrin. It is true I have not experienced the hardships of cisgender women brought on by the oppression by the patriarchy. I am very clear that I am a transgender woman, I do not hide that fact. I purposefully make that distinction out of respect for the struggles cisgender women have had to endure that I have not. That was not my life for the first 50 years I walked this planet, but when it comes to the patriarchy, it is now, because it is this same male dominated system that allows for the discrimination against me in housing, employment, healthcare, and more. It is my contention that cisgender women who perpetuate this discrimination such as the ones in this video are indeed, at least as far as this issue is concerned, in league with these same patriarchal forces. I do not say this to claim victimhood because I am no one's victim. I say this to demonstrate the very observable reality that the freedom of liberty for both these feminists and my community are being abridged by the same oppressive system. This is where we have common ground.
My decision to transition was not predicated on "an affinity to wear uncomfortable shoes or lacy underwear." That might have gotten her a laugh but the truth of the matter is, for 50 years I practiced some of the most self-destructive activities one can imagine and through the grace of the Mother Goddess, I am still here today. Once I transitioned, I have been able to lead a much more productive life where I am now well on my way to higher elected office here in Los Angeles. Because my angst has been greatly diminished, I can be the person I always knew I was, and I don't just mean openly being female, I mean the kind, loving, caring, warm, gracious (no, I did not swallow a thesaurus lol) person I know that I have always been on the inside. As I look back over my life pre-transition, I can see that it was my male upbringing that informed me to suppress much of those desirable traits. One of the very best things for me about my transition is that I can now cry happy tears. I didn't used to be able to but I can now and they are glorious! :~)
I can remember it like it was yesterday standing in the locker room with some of the other boys and hearing them objectify women. Real actual locker room talk and thinking to myself, this is just not right but being too afraid to say anything because I was already not very popular in school.
Why is it that discrimination of transgender folks, no matter who is doing it, not a form of sexism? The difference here is that my community is not only dealing with sexism by cisgender men, we also have to push back against it from some cisgender women as well. Again, not claiming victimhood here, just pointing out a very observable reality.
I have been writing this as I watch this video. Let me say that I have completely ignored the comments by Benjamin. As a cisgender male, he does not have a dog in this fight and his observations bring little if anything to this conversation. He said he wanted to set up this virtual discussion between the 2 parties as a way for the us to have some sort of forced dialog. He made it seem at the beginning he wanted to be impartial but he was anything but. But hey, it's his video, he can do as he pleases just like I can ignore him if I please. It is a hit piece tailored to create traffic to his video/channel, nothing more, nothing less. So I guess in that respect he was mildly successful with 27k views so far.
I would like to say that I do not necessarily agree with the tactics of my trans siblings featured in the video but I can most certainly share in their distain. Carrying signs that say "F*ck TERFs" is not how we should be showing our love for others. I refuse to be a hater. This is no way to attempt to engage in meaningful debate. What I would remind them is, that in my mind, the transgender movement, and despite the contrary remarks from one of the WoLF speakers, there really is a transgender movement even if we are not exactly as organized as I would like us to be, but still, to me, the transgender movement is at its core about love. I know many non-trans folks out there, especially after watching this video, would not see this but then again, you do not interact with some of the trans folks I do who are some of the most loving and caring people I have ever met, and who would not harm a fly. I understand their anger and whether or not you think it is justified, it is real.
The one thing I can definitely agree with Benjamin on is that we need to stop talking past each other and try to be understanding of each others circumstances because you know what? The only ones that win in all of this is the patriarchy and that just won't do…
For Love. For Peace. For Tolerance. For Humankind.
Then someone responded:
U r mentally/ physically rare enough to be a statistical margin of human error. U r welcome yo your rights, but irrelevant
To which I replied:
You see Dale, here is the thing about rights. No one needs permission from anyone to have rights as they are indelible. If one recognizes a person has rights as you have done, then the only real question is whether or not others have the courage to support protections of those rights. To say that my rights are irrelevant because we do not represent a larger swath of the population does not negate the need for protections from those who mean to infringe upon those rights. To me, this is the fundamental definition of a just society where the rights of the most vulnerable are protected.
Rachael Rose Luckey is a progressive political activist living in Los Angeles. As President of the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council, she is one of only a couple of dozen openly Transgender elected Government Officials in the nation. (The views expressed are solely her own and do not represent the views of any political party, organization, government entity or candidate/elected official.)